Grading-machine.



G. THOMAS.

GRADING MACHINE. AIfPLIOATION FILED NOV. 6, 1911.

Patented July 23, 1932 2 SHEETBSHBET 1,

5272,2322 eases:

Q s/mP/ama G. THOMAS.

GRADING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6, 1911.

Pat ented Jul 23, 1912.

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UNITED STATES PATN T QFFICE.

GUSTAV THOMAS, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

GRADING-MACHINE.

Application filed November 6, 1911.

To all whom 2'25 may concern Be it known that I, GUSTAV THOMAS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Grading-lVIachines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in grading and sorting machines and particularly such as are adapted for the grading of vegetables, fruits, or any other articles.

I t is an object of the invention to provlde a device which will be capable of handling vegetables or fruits which run in dilferent sizes so as to separate the VEIIlOllS'SIZQS from each other.

It is a particular object of the invention to provide a mechanism which will separate the materials without danger of injuring or crushing them. I

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved grading or sorting machine. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of trough for delivering materials to the machine being shown in section. -Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view through one of the sets of gearing employed for adjusting the grading belts with respect to each other. Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the grading machine looking at the opposite side of the same from that shown in Fig. 1.- Fig. 5 is a-detail transverse sectional view taken upon the line 5-5 of Fig. 4. 6 is a fragmentary detail sectional view taken upon the line G-6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail sectional riewof one end of one of the belt carrying rolls, the gearing for turning the Isa me being shown in elevation. Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view taken through the bearings employed for holding the gearing shown in Fig. 7 in place. Fig. 9 is a detail view showing the end of one of the lower rollers upon an enlarged scale. Fig. 10 is a detail plan view of one of the plates employed at the upper end of the bolts for: holding the auxiliary belts which are employed in connection therewith in posilinr.

The details and features of the invention will now be more particularly described,ref-

crencc being had to the saiddrawing in the same, the feed A Patented July .23, 1912. Serial No. 658,677.

the front end of the machine toward the delivery end thereof. The said frame is thus formed with an elongated front end frame 11 and a shorter end frame 12 a. the discharge end of the device. The delivery end of the machine is also provided with a second frame 18 preferably offset and shaped to properly support receiving buckets or bins into which the separated materials may be delivered.

Upon the upper front end of the machine a discharge whichreeeives the end of a supply trough 15 in which any suitable conve *er 16 is operated for carrying the materials to begraded, to the machine. The belt 16 passes over a roller which is connected with a pulley 17 mounted outside the trough and connected by means of a cross belt 18 wit-h a similar pulley 19. The pulley 19 is connected with a paddle wheel 20 which. is mounted within the spout housing let. The paddle wheel is thus turned in anopposite direction to the roller over which the belt 16 passes and the paddles which are preferably of flexible material will operate to force the materials downwardly to the discharge outletof the said spout housing 14. The housing is arranged to deliver the fruit, vegetables or other materials between sorting aprons or belts which will be hereinafter described.

The fruit, vegetables or other materials to be graded are acted upon by opposing aprons 21 which are usually set with their upper portions somewhat wider apart than their lower portions, as will be understood by reference to Figs. 2 and 5 of the drawing. The said aprons are inclined also from the front end of the machine toward the rear end thereof, the aprons extending approximately parallel with the inclined framing of the machine. The aprons may be made of canvas or other suitable flexible material and extend approximately the full distance from the front frame 11 to the rear frame 12. The said aprons run upon upper rollers 22 and lower rtillers 23 which are carried by shafts 24 and 25. The ends of said shafts are journaled in bearingsv which are carried by adjust-able bars 26. The said bars 26 are arranged adjacent to the rollers 22 and 23 and are adapted to be adjusted with respect to each other for controlling the angle at which the aprons stand with respect to each other.

The bars 26 at-the front ends of the maspout housing 14 is provided I chine are connected with the bars 26 at the rear end of the machine by lohgitudinally extending bars :27 and 28, thus forming frames which carry the said hearings of the rollers 22 and 23. The upper and lower ends olt' each of the bars 26 are bifurcated at 29 and are adapted to slide upon guide rails 30 secured to the cross bars of the end frame 11. It will thus'he observed that by moving the said bars 26 with respect to each other, the position of the frames can be altered or adjusted. The said frames are positively held in adjusted position with. respect to the sides of the frai'ne 10, by means of screw rods 31 and 32 arranged at the upper and lower ends of the bars The screw rods 31. extend pastthe ends of the bars 28 and are securel to the ends of the bars 27, the said latter oars being made longer than the loars 28, for this porpoise. The screw rods are secured to the bars 36 as clearly shown in Each of the said screw rods engages a screw threaded sleeve 33 which is mounted in hearings 34. formed inthe side framing of the machine. Splined to the said sleeve are gears and 36 which are arranged to meeh with each other. he sleeves 33 of the rods 32 are also provided with sprocket wheels 37 and a sprocket chain 38 connects the sprocket wheels 37., at the front and rear ends of the machine both at the top and bottom of the aprons as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing.

A. handle or other ti'iruing means: may he applied to the projecting end of the sleeve upon the rods 31, for turning them as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. in this manner the sleeves upon all of the screw rode at the top of the aprons may he operated inultaneously and so also, .ill of the screw rods at the bottom of the ai'ironsniay he operated eilunltanemisly. The rods ll and 2:12 of each group of gears are threaded alike, so that the sleeves which are turned by [he intermcsl'iing gears and 36 will operate lo move the said screw rods in opposite direc tions with respect to each other, and llme either draw the apron carrying frames l1 ward each other or separate them. The frames; are usually adjusted in this manner so that the upper ends ol lhcai'u'ons are wider apart chart the lower ends. and as: llio fruit or materials to be graded. work their way downwardly along the in lined hells the smaller fruit will reach the lower posi tions between the bolts. while the larger fruit will he discharged l rom higher posh lower rollers are semircd to and hare it; near Th e v rollers 22 and the rotation 01 said rollers accomplished by means of bevel gears l-1, which are rigidly secured to the oi the shafts The said gears -ll mesh with cor responding bevelgears 42 which are splined upon transverse shafts 43., having hearings upon the upper fa'une ll: of the machine. The huhs of the gears 42 are elongated opposite the ends 0. l the shaft. 24- and are formed with peripheral grom es in which are placed securing straps 44-, which straps said shaft and will. always be in position to actuate and rotate the said rollers One aid of the shaft 43 carries a sprocket wheel 48, which is connected lay means of asprocltet chain 49 with a sprocket wheel 50 carried by a shaft- 51, also jomnaled upon the front end of the machine. A pulley carried by the shaft 51 may be connected with any suitable source of movement, for rotating the said shaft and driving the sprocket mechanism. fin adjustable sprocket wheel 53 also engages the said sprocket chain 49 for controlling itstension. in adjustable bar or standard 3ft carries the said wheel as shown in Fig. l.

Since the aprons 521 are mounted upon inclined rollers there is a tendency for the said aprons to work downwardly on said rollers toward. the lower end of the machine. To prevent such action, the upper ends oil. the aprons are so connected to the upper ends of the rollers. over which they pass, that. they cannot slip lmigitudinally ot the said rollers. in order to accomplish such a holding; of the aprons, auxiliary belts 55 are employed and mounted upon the upper ends of the inclined rollers 22 and 33. 'lhe said auxiliary belts are preferably narrcw." liolla. usually of leather, and are arranged to engage oll'act port-ions upon the onus of the said rollers i2" and .23., Ilia-med by oducinl the diameter of the said rolls tor a. short dislance. ln order to accommodate the dillet enl. hell's upon the rollers and to compensate for their slipping "lo a slight. degree with respect to each other, as they necessarily do in passing around the same rollers, sleeves so ale prm'idml upon the. reduced ends of he rollers as; clearly shown in Fig. 7. The eaid l ves are also formed with il'mjarilly projecting delente us ally Smooth ended .ltEWF; 51', which engage annular grooves 538 formed.

near the ends of the rollers. The aprons 21 are secured to the auxiliary belts by means of hook shaped clips 59, which are secured to the edges of the aprons 21 and slip upon the outer edges of said auxiliary belts The belts are rested against plates which are arranged near the upper ends of the rollers 22. Eachof the said plates 60 is formed with an aperture 6l'adapted to fit upon ,the reduced end of the rollers 22. The portion of the platewh'ich surrounds the said opening 61 is also formed with an edge flange 62 which guides the movement of the said belt which engages it. Each of the said plates 60 is held in proper position with respect to the frames which ,carry the aprons, by means of rods 63, which are bolted to said plates and extend outwardly therefrom between the laps of the aprons. The said bolts are also clamped as at'64: to longitudinal bars 65 which connect the bars 26 of the frames at intermediate points.

The structure above described not only permits the proper holding of the aprons against slipping upon the inclined rollers, but is of such a character that any slight tendency of the belt 55 to slip upon the rollers in accommodating itself to its different positions will be permitted by the engagement of the belts with the sleeves 56. In operating the aprons they are moved so that their inner opposing surfaces are carried. upwardly, thus continually tending to lift the fruit or material assorted and the smaller articles will find their, way toward the bottom. 'The lower frame 12 of the machine is provided with a series of spouts 66, 67, 68 and 69 which are adapted to deliver the assorted material at different points between the aprons. The lower spout G9 delivers material into a box or re ceptacle 70, preferably resting upon the lower frame of the machine. The spout G7 delivers material into a box or receptacle 71 mounted upon the supports formed on the frames 12 and 13. The other spouts 66 and (2S deliver their material upon endless belts or conveyors 72 and.73 respectively which are adapted to carry the said materials to boxes or-receptacles T5 and 74 mounted outside the frame 13, as clearly shown in l' igs. 1 and 4- of the drawing. Adjuslable spouts 7G and 77 may be provided for each of the said conveyors so to insure the proper delivery of the materials therrl'roni to the said boxes T l and 75. The

mi l conveyors T2 and 73 may be driven in w any desired tin-inner, butv are usually driven by means of sprocket wheels 78 and 79 carricd by the shafts of their inner rollers, and the sprocket wheels engage a sprocket chain 80 which PilnH-S about them, and about an .roller of the conveyer belt- 16. The said sprocket chain is driven by means of sprocket .wheel 83 secured to the'shaft. 43, which is connected with the :actuating mechanism of the machine. In this manner a single sprocket chain maybe made'to operate the feed co'nveyer, and the delivery convey-ere of the device.

In using the device the vegetables, fruits or other articles are delivered to the ma-. chine upon theiconveyer 16, falling into the box 15 where they are prevented from clogging by means cf the paddle wheel 20. The materials fall between the aprons 21 and as they work their way downthe incline of said aprons, the smaller articles will fall to the bottom, others taking'their place at intermediate points according 'td their size and being delivered througl'i the spouts at the end of the machine into 'the respective boxes designed for their reception. The culls and smallest articles'ivill fallinto a box or receptacle 84: placedbenea'th the open spacebetween the said aprons.

The adjustment and .the'operation of the parts will be readily understood from the above description and needn'of further description here. The handlingg'ofthefvegetables, fruit or other article'sby m'eans of the yielding aprons prevents the possibility of their being injured'or crushed.

\Vhat I claim-is:

1. A grading machine having a frame, a pair of aprons'movably mounted on said frame, means for adjusting the aprons simultaneously to alter the angular relation of their adjacent planes and means for driv ,ing the aprons.

2. A' grading machine, comprising an inclined frame, cotiperating aprons mounted in said inclined frame opposite to each other, rollers movably carrying the said aprons, adjustable frames for supporting the said rollers, means for simultaneously spacing the said frames with respect to each other at their upper and lower edges whereby they may be brought closer'toget-her at. the bottom than at'the top for accomplishing the grading operation, means for secur- I ing the upper edges of the aprons with re- 1115 spect to the upper ends of the supporting rolls thereof, whereby any tendency of the aprons to slip downwardly upon therolls will be prevented, 'and means for directing the assorted. materials from the aprons into, 12 0 different receptacles.

3. A grading machine comprising a frame, traveling aprons extending longitudinally of the frame, inclined rollers mounted in the upper and lower portions of the said frame for moving and guiding the said aprons, frames loosely mounted in the machine and arranged to support the intermediate sprocket wheel 81, and thence i said rollers, bearings for the rollers mountaround a sprocket. wheel carried by t ed upon said frames, rods connected with 13 the said frames and extending to the side A grading machine comprising a frame, inclined rollers jou'rnaled therein, aprons mounted on said rollers, a shaft for driving the rollers, gearing splineol upon said shaft for permitting of the adjustment of the, rollers, gears carried by the said rollers" and meshing with the said spliced gears, means for holding the gears with relation-to each other, means for adjusting the rollers to varying relation of the aprons with respect to each other, and means I'oi" receiving materials placed between the aprons in separated and graded lots;

5. A grading machine comprising a frame, inclined rollers mounted therein, belts movably mounted upon said rollers, auxiliary belts carried by said rollers, means "connecting the.aprons with said auxiliary belts for preventing the aprons from work I ing dowmvardly upon the inclined rollers, and means for driving the rollers for actu ating the said aprons.

6. A. grading machine comprising a frame, aprons movably mounted therein, frames carrying the said aprons and having a movable engagement with the main frame of the machine, shafting carrying said frames, sleeves having a screw threaded cngagement with the said shaft-mg, gears for operating said sleeves, sprocket gearing for connecting the gears at opposite ends of the machine, whereby when the frames are ad.-

\ justed at one end of the machine the frames at the other end thereof will be adjusted to a similar degree, and means for driving the aprons for grading and delivering the vegetables, fruit or other articles in assorted A lot-s.

lln witness that 1 claim the foregoing .l have-hereunto subscribed my name this 23rd day of Oct, 1911..

'GUSTAV THOMAS.

Vs itnesses E. S'rAnrMAN, EARLE It. POLLARD. 

